Paneer Shwarma/ Shwarma emulated

Blogging marathon # 44 - Next halt - Qatar Shwarma is very popular street food available across all middle eastern countries. For the non meat lovers it may not be a pleasant sight to notice large (huge) meat pieces seared against hot air or in a tandoor or rotisseries however it is a tradition followed to both preserve the meats for longer time and also enrich the flavors by slow roasting them

Since I have been converting a lot of meat based recipes to vegetarian, I took this challenge. While it is easier to achieve the spices and flavors, the real ask is to ensure that the entire paneer or protein of your choice gets thoroughly soaked in the flavors of the spice and are slightly dry on the outside yet juicy within . Basically it is all about the cooking technique.

Recreating with Paneer has its own disadvantages as 1) it can become dry on slow cooking and 2) it may not soak up the marinade sufficiently well as it may crumble in the mixture if kept for longer time

With a few trial and errors, I made what I did. I have a cooking range, so I have access to direct gas flame in my oven which is helpful. Also my oven has a holder for clinging a skewer stand that has individual skewer stick which can be rotated manually at regular intervals. In short, I recreated a rotisserie effect not real albeit

Ingredients

200 gms fresh paneer

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tspn red chilli powder

1 tspn all spice powder

1 tspn cinnamon powder

1 tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn black pepper

salt to taste

2 tbsp Oil for brushing

Method

1) In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except paneer and 1 tbsp oil and mix thoroughly

2) Place the entire block of paneer without cutting it in this marinade and place in the refrigerator for atleast 30 min or upto 4 hours

3) Heat your oven on lowest temperature until it is warm

4) In a baking sheet put the paneer pieces drained from the marinade. Do not discard the marinade, set aside

5) Bake the paneer for 10 min or until it has a crust formed on the ourside

6) Now remove the paneer from the oven and cut into pieces as your desire.

7) Pour the marinade on top

8) Just before serving, place this again in the oven this time at 180C for 5 min to get a golden coating. Brush with oil if preferred

Serve as a side dish or as a stuffing with your wraps along with fresh vegetables.